Analysis of the winners
So what do we know about the Smarta 100?
When we set out on our search for the Smarta 100 it
was with the intention of capturing a snapshot of the small
businesses which, in their individual ways, make up 99% of
Britain's enterprises and contribute over half of its
economy.
We knew that even without attempting to find the
smartest, most creative companies, the Smarta 100 would be a cross
section of diverse sectors, approaches, locations and backgrounds -
and we were neither wrong nor disappointed.
Indeed, our pursuit of companies that have excelled
at making themselves unique within their sectors and regions,
indispensible to their customers and remarkable enough to gain our
attention, almost answers and renders redundant the question 'what
do they have in common?' all in one go.
The Smarta 100 are a collection of the finest small
and emerging small businesses in Britain individually defined in
their own carefully sculpted identities, but who are run by people
who've passionately laboured over establishing these
distinctions.
As a result, it's our Smarta 100 founders we've
chosen to analyse.
So who are the Smarta 100 founders?
Well we'd be labouring the point to emphasise their
differences, so let's focus on their similarities. The average
Smarta 100 founder is in their mid-30s, and is educated to degree
level. Yet even here the stats can deceive. While the majority did,
37% of founders didn't go to university. 14% don't have
qualifications above GCSE level, with half of those having none at
all. There was a high propensity for industry-specific
qualifications, however.
Motivation
When it came to starting their own business, money
was the motivation for just 15%. Instead, the desire to realise an
idea was the driving force for 62%, with the freedom of being your
own boss inspiring 42%.
Richard Branson, James Dyson, Steve Jobs are the
entrepreneurs they admire most and they aspire to be the next
Apple, Virgin, innocent drinks and Google.
Think big, but start small
While almost all of the Smarta 100 have ambitions
to grow their businesses and the majority plan to exit within 2-3
years, almost of all them come from humble beginnings.
More than half still don't have an office, with two
thirds based at home and the rest spend most of their day working
on the move out of business clubs and coffee shops.
Self-funded.
Like-wise, while the national media, political
world and lobby groups focus on the lending prolificacy of the
banks, the Smarta 100 have been busy just getting on with it,
either funding themselves or finding money elsewhere.
Just 14% have taken a bank loan. Over half funded
their businesses out of their own savings. Private investment
accounting for 16% of start-up capital, 13% from credit cards,
while the rest came from a collection of redundancy pay-outs,
grants and student loans.
Early technology adopters
Laptops, iPhones and BlackBerrys took a clean sweep
of the items our Smarta 100 founders couldn't live without, while
three quarters are already using social networks to promote their
businesses. They're not just tentatively playing either, over a
third use Twitter several times a day, with one in 10 tweeting more
than once an hour.
Only 14% of our founders now read a daily
newspaper, instead picking up their news from TV and a variety of
online sources (yes, including social networks).
Lifestyle
Unless they were trying to impress, the Smarta 100
founders seemingly believe a healthy body results in a healthy
businesses, as well. Over half exercise more than once a week, with
15% squeezing a work-out into their daily routine, while porridge
appears to be the Smarta 100 founders' breatfast of choice.
That said, they average just 6.7 hours sleep a
night with many subscribing to the positively Thatcher-like sub-5
hours. With 60% working in excess of 60 hours a week and a fair
number pushing 80 to 90, it's no surprise the porridge is more than
often accompanied by coffee.
Political views
It seems while the Smarta 100 founders display
passion in almost every aspect of their working lives, they
subscribe to the average Joe's apathy when it comes to politics.
For the record, 38% percent intent to vote Conservative, just 13%
Labour but 45% think even a change of government would do have very
little effect on their business.
What do the Smarta 100 have in common?
When we set out on our search for the Smarta 100 it was with the
intention of capturing a snapshot of the small businesses which, in
their individual ways, make up 99% of Britain's enterprises and
contribute over half of its GDP.
We knew that even without attempting to find the smartest, most
creative companies, the Smarta 100 would be a cross section of
diverse sectors, approaches, locations and backgrounds - and we
were neither wrong nor disappointed.
Indeed, our pursuit of companies which have excelled at making
themselves unique within their sectors and regions, indispensible
to their customers and remarkable enough to gain our attention,
pretty much answers and renders redundant the question 'what do
they have in common?' all in one go.
The Smarta 100 are a collection of the finest small and emerging
businesses in Britain, individually defined in their own
carefully-sculpted identities, run by people who've passionately
laboured over establishing these distinctions.
As a result, it's our Smarta 100 founders we've chosen to
analyse.
So who are the Smarta 100 founders?
Well we'd be labouring the point to emphasise their differences,
so let's focus on their similarities.
Education
The average Smarta 100 founder is in their mid-30s and educated
to degree level. Yet even here the stats can deceive. While the
majority did, 37% of founders didn't go to university. 14% don't
have qualifications above GCSE level, with half of those having
none at all.
There was a high propensity for industry-specific
qualifications, however.
Motivation
While the reasons for starting a business are rarely mutually
exclusive and most of the founders indeed cited multiple reasons,
just 15% identified making money as a key driver. Instead, the
desire to realise an idea was a driving force for 62%, with the
freedom of being your own boss inspiring 42%.
Richard Branson, James Dyson, Steve Jobs are the entrepreneurs
they admire most and they aspire to be the next Apple, Virgin,
innocent drinks and Google.
Think big, but start small
While almost all of the Smarta 100 have ambitions to grow their
businesses and the majority plan to exit within 2-3 years, almost
all of our companies starting out from humble beginnings.
More than half still don't have an office, with two thirds based
at home and the rest spend most of their day working on the move
out of business clubs and coffee shops.
Self-funded
Like-wise, while the national media, political world and lobby
groups focus on the lending prolificacy of the banks, the Smarta
100 have been busy just getting on with it, either funding
themselves or finding money elsewhere.
Just 14% have taken a bank loan. Over half funded their
businesses out of their own savings. Private investment accounting
for 16% of start-up capital, 13% turned to credit cards, while the
rest came from a collection of redundancy pay-outs, grants and
student loans.
Early technology adopters
Laptops, iPhones and BlackBerrys took a clean sweep of the items
our Smarta 100 founders couldn't live without, while three quarters
are already using social networks to promote their businesses.
They're not just tentatively playing either, over a third use
Twitter several times a day, with one in 10 tweeting more than once
an hour.
Only 14% of our founders now read a daily newspaper, instead
picking up their news from TV and a variety of online sources (yes,
including social networks).
Lifestyle
Unless they were trying to impress, the Smarta 100 founders
believe a healthy body results in a healthy business. Over half
exercise more than once a week, with 15% squeezing a work-out into
their daily routine, while porridge appears to be the Smarta 100
founders' breakfast of choice.
That said, they average just 6.7 hours sleep a night with many
subscribing to a positively Thatcher-like sub-5 hours. With 60%
working in excess of 60 hours a week and a fair number pushing 80
to 90, it's no surprise the porridge is more than often accompanied
by coffee.
Political views
It seems while the Smarta 100 founders display passion in almost
every aspect of their working lives, they subscribe to the average
Joe's apathy when it comes to politics. For the record, 38% percent
intent to vote Conservative, just 13% Labour but 45% think even a
change of government would have very little effect on their
business.
